An interesting Easter day...

Okay, I know its not Easter yet, but we celebrated Easter today with my family and friends....

Here's the way it started - 2 handsome boys and a beautiful girl in a pretty skirt (that SHE picked out) that (along with her curly hair) made her look MUCH older than her Momma was ready to see... (but MAN - she did look pretty!!)


We enjoyed a nice lunch with a Mom & Dad, their 3 daughters (and their husbands & husband-to-be), another very special Mother, 3 grandpas, 1 grandma, 8 cousins and a beautiful girl from Russia... it was a FUN crew!!

After all the quiche you could handle, cheesy potatoes, yummy strawberries, cinnamon rolls and WAY too much food we let the kids go outside and find the eggs that the men had so cleverly hid for them...


It was SUCH a lovely time!! :) Seriously - I LOVE family time!

Then we had nap time for the boys - and my boy of VERY special sleeping positions surprised me yet again...

He is sleeping in the bookshelf of his bed in his underwear... what a special boy!

THEN... while the other boy was supposed to be sleeping - he did this instead


Yes, that is a BRAND NEW pack of bubble gum from HIS SISTER'S Easter basket - and in case you didn't know... he SWALLOWS his bubble gum!!
Just in case that wasn't weird enough - after dinner he needed to go #2, which when he did he yelled from the bathroom "Hey Colton, LOOK!! I can pee out of my butt!! How did I do that?" (Sorry to be so gross, but it was TOO FUNNY!!)
It was a great time to point out "This is why we DON'T eat an entire pack of bubble gum!!
Doesn't life just make you laugh sometimes?? :) It does for me!

"Growing like a weed..."

I always hated when people would say that about me when I was growing up!!
I'm not a weed - I am a person (would be the thought going on in my head)

But now I look at my yard and I realize that weeds suddenly grow and are this "thing" before you even realized it was there...
Now, I know that my kids are there (I did give birth to them) - but suddenly before my eyes they are these little "people"...


Chayse is starting to enjoy some grown up things - cleaning the house, sitting down and just "chatting", she's starting the Praise & Worship team at church in September, she is learning to cook and now wants to make every meal, she's starting to care about how she's dressed and what she's wearing (most times) AND needs to carry a purse each time we go out!!! (And she'll only be TEN this fall - double digits baby!!)











Colton has lost another two teeth this summer (that's why the goofy picture) all he wants for his first day of Kindergarten (or Christmas) is his two front teeth!! He's lost his 4 front teeth total so far... which makes eating apples interesting! :)
He has suddenly become this little "man" - helping take care of Grandpa & Grandma (this morning he sat next to Grandpa and wouldn't move until he had identified which pills were which for Grandpa), asking for jobs to do around the house, riding his bicycle up and down the street any chance he can and BEGGING for his legs to grow so he can ride the motorcyle with Daddy!! :)






Now Connor - he's his own story...
He turned three in April but still wanted to be the "baby" until 2 weeks ago - he decided he didn't like Pull-Ups anymore and he's done very well since. He's SO proud of "poopy in the toilet" each time he goes that anyone close by will be asked to "come see it" (Gross, I know - but such is my life). He is all of a sudden (it seems) able to talk so that most people can understand him and he LOVES trucks of any kind!! He's funny - he only identifys the color green (John Deere green) but can spot a garbage truck, a tractor, a skidster, an excavator or a skinny (and correctly identify it) from a WAYS away! SOON we'll have those both worked out (our colors and our trucks). The picture is an excavator that some VERY nice workmen let him sit on and now he wants one for his birthday! :)

So... all that to say - my children have just changed (evidently when I wasn't looking) and its SO cool to see what these awesome creations of my Father are becoming!! :)

My husband is the best...

Do you remember those Espirit bags growing up?










I always wanted one growing up - and was given one by a friend of mine... it was used, but I LOVED it and used it every day! I felt SO COOL!!!

Well, leave it to my husband to make me feel "cool" again... I have been talking about wanting a Juicy purse for a while and have looked at them online, but just could not justify spending the money on myself. Well, my WONDERFUL hubby decided I was worth it and HE was gonna spend the money (that I wouldn't spend on myself) and bought me a Juicy purse for my birthday! :)



















Yes, I know it isn't my birthday yet - but that's the other funny part...

Fred had the kids make cards for the presents that he bought so the kids could each give me one and I think he showed them what they were... because as Colton got in the car last night after school here's what I heard:
Colton: "Mommy! We made your birthday card for your present!
Chayse: "Colton! You can't tell!"
Colton: "Yes I can - you're not the boss!" (VERY common statement at our house)
Chayse: "No you can't! Dad said so!"
Colton: "Yes I can, Chayse! Mommy we got you a sweatshirt..." things went silent as he got "the look" from Daddy. :)

Fred didn't trust Colton to not tell any of the other presents AND Fred has never been a good one to keep surprises from me ;) so he let me open all of them last night!
All I can say is - the man did GOOD! :)

It has been WAAAAAYYYY too long...

All I can say is - I'm sorry!
My camera, my phone - both filled with a bunch of amazing pictures for some really fun posts... but - they are still there... in my camera and in my phone (hopefully to be posted on here soon).

My problem is two-fold:
1. It was Christmas break and I had kiddos home to wrap presents for, play new games with, feed 4-5 times a day and over all just have fun with them while on break.
2. I have been having wi-fi problems with my computer lately - if I could just post from my phone I'd be GOLDEN... but not yet.

Sooooo.... here's a quick "recap" of the last three weeks of "The Life and Times of the Shirley Family"

• Kids on 2 week break for Christmas - LOTS of playing outside
• Fred took the 2 weeks of vacation as well... had some fun dates! :)
• Christmas - fun, but low-key this year (YEAH!!!)
• Colton lost his first tooth on the 26th (more pictures to come) - I actually pushed it out, but in my defense, his tooth was pushing underneath and causing him pain.
• Connor has a new friend - his "shobel" (shovel). Everything he did outside for the last two weeks involved dragging that shovel EVERYWHERE!!!
• Fred and I went to see Claret (Nyk & Jen Olson's band) at a club downtown (GREAT show and fun to see them perform again) but I got carded for the first time!!! (okay - I got carded once before, but just for an "18 and up" place - this was so I could wear a bracelet all night that said "ok to drink") Kinda wierd... :)
• Very pleased with the presents the kids got (I helped pick a lot of them out) and the boys got matching pirate ships (which Fred thought I was nuts for buying) but having two of them has been a HUGE lifesaver! :)
• Really been praying about some stuff for the future lately (like I really haven't before) and I'm excited for what God has in store for us!

Anyway - I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year's...

All our love... The Shirley's

It's his FIFTH birthday today!!!

Five years ago today I was first introduced to the joy and the world of boys...














I was excited and nervous all at the same time - but after my first day/night with that little boy, I knew that boys were definitely a gift from God. Colton spent his first night sleeping in my arms and would "whine" every time I put him down in his bassinet. I knew then I had a cuddly boy - and he still is to this day.



















The joy, the laughs, the wrestling (thanks Dad for the years of practice), playing any kind of ball and that contagious laugh of his! I'm so thankful that God brought him into my life - what a blessing he is!










































So to my biggest boy - Happy Birthday! :)
I'm so glad that five years ago today I got to meet you for the first time and enjoy the last five years of smiles, tears, laughs, wrestles, "tracking me down", snuggling, and enjoying everything that God created you to be!

Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)
"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God - you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration - what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day."

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here I sit in Kansas enjoying a Thanksgiving that's out of the "normal"...

• There's no snow...
• We don't need jackets today...
• I miss Leslie's laughter - but instead I'm listening to my daughter "oooohhh" over my sister-in-law's dogs
• I'm not hosting! So instead of running around setting the table, making food and staying WAY too busy - I went to the park with my kids, read my book for about an hour and am now catching up on my blogging.
• I'm surrounded by family of a different sort (than I normally see for holidays) - but we're really enjoying seeing them!

Basically - LOTS of family time which is MUCH needed! :)

I hope you all are surrounded by family, food and lots of love today!

EDIT.......................................................................................................

Now that Thanksgiving is coming to a close I just had one more thing to add...
This was really a great day! I miss the "traditions" of my family and friends - but an evening spent with my hubby's family was so wonderful (even if my boys wouldn't sit still except for 10 minutes at a time) having over 20 people gathered in a room eating a dinner prepared by one wonderful lady with the help of her hubby (my husband's brother) and their kids brought back SO many memories of holidays past with my grandparents and extended family (a tradition that my family has stopped due to WAY too many family commitments) it was wonderful (I almost cried).

Growing up we went to BOTH sets of grandparents houses for dinner and lunch on Thanksgiving and Christmas:

• 2 grandparents, 5 sisters and 5 spouses plus grandchildren on my mom's side (as well as a friendly face or a missionary or two)
  
• 2 grandparents (sometimes a GREAT grandparent or two), 5 brothers and 1 sister and 4-5 spouses plus grandchildren on my dad's side

It always turned out to be a VERY long and busy day with WAAAAYYY too much food - but it was family (that's what you did).

So today, I got to relive those memories with different, fun, friendly, family faces around those two tables - and as I sit here with a belly TOO FULL of all that great food... all I can say is I'm thankful (for more than I can ever begin to write) - but thank you Lord today for family.

Dragon Warrior Po's Secret Ingredient Soup.... well, sort of

What makes a family meal special? The "secret ingredient" :)

Mr. Ping: The secret ingredient is... nothing!
Po: Huh?
Mr. Ping: You heard me. Nothing! There is no secret ingredient.
Po: Wait, wait... it's just plain old noodle soup? You don't add some kind of special sauce or something?
Mr. Ping: Don't have to. To make something special you just have to believe it's special.

Tonight, for dinner, we had "Dragon Warrior Po's Secret Ingredient Soup"... what is the secret ingredient? Imagination and believing it's the coolest dinner EVER!

I just told the kids that it was Po's soup, gave them chopsticks, did a bunch of "kung fu" moves (really, Tae Bo moves thanks to Billy Blanks) and laughed a lot (and took pictures)
















The "secret" soup...















He tried and succeeded...















She tried and succeeded...















He used the spoon... then mom helped him try the chopsticks! :)
















The "real" secret to Po's soup - Ramen soup and a little bit of imagination!
















:) Gotta love being a kid!

Family, fun & basketball...

We were blessed the other night with tickets to go and see a Timberwolves basketball game (none of us are fans of the Timberwolves - just of Basketball in general) AND one of our junior highers was performing after the 1st quarter (she was AWESOME by the way)!!

My kids had SUCH a ball - Colton cheered whenever EITHER team made a basket...

Here's him in his Timberwolves wig...


We took a fun crew with us!













We had GREAT seats right behind the Wolves bench... well a few rows back! :)


No matter where the seats were - we were THANKFUL (they were free after all) and the kids had SO MUCH FUN no matter what! :)

No more clothes wars!!

I love my family so much - they just don't even know!!
For Chayse's birthday this year I asked my family to get her some "nice/cool" clothes for church and outings and they did great! (Just to clear things up - Leslie saved Chayse's day by NOT getting her clothes, but her new favorite video instead... otherwise Chayse would have gotten ALL clothes for her birthday - which she said she was okay with, but she was glad that Leslie got her something "fun")
They have no idea how much they made my weekend so peaceful this last weekend because of it...

Let me set this up... lately Chayse and I have many "discussions" about her choice in clothes, shoes, and how she does her hair - I'm not sure how to define her "taste"... but its usually a little too sloppy for what I want. OR she wears the perfect outfit with her riding boots or "skater" tennis shoes!!

But this weekend was H E A V E N ! !
Here's how the weekend went:

• Friday day (went to the MOA with Israeli friends) SHE picked out a dress that my dad picked out and bought for her (good job Dad!!) and I suggested her footless tights - she even put a ribbon in her hair (which she later took out - but that's okay)
• Saturday night (church) SHE picked out her new black dress from Melissa and wore her golden shoes with it.
• Sunday morning (church) SHE picked out her new outfit from Nana - plaid pants, brown shirt, pink sweater and brown ballet flats... again, PERFECT!!
• Sunday Night (NTHI - church) SHE picked out the brown dress Melissa got her and again wore her footless tights and ASKED ME which shoes to wear with it, I said the golden ones, she agreed and wore it with her HAIR DOWN...

It was like she all of a sudden has taste and wants to look good (like I want her to) - it was amazing! I'm not sure how long this will keep up - but I'm enjoying it while I have it!

Sorry for all the details - but you just HAD to understand how big of a deal this was to me! :)
Thanks family - you are the best!


This is a picture of her at the MOA in the dress my Dad picked out - didn't he do good and doesn't she look SO CUTE! :)

I just love how big my "big girl" is getting! :)

The Real Birthday Party!!!

With the busyness of a "typical" weekend at the Shirley household - we (with Chayse's agreement) decided to postpone her birthday dinner to Monday night (tonight) where she gets to pick the meal and have her birthday cake. However, she did choose to have her presents yesterday (on her real birthday) - but I expected that! :)

Here are the attendee's...
Grandpa, Grandma, Fred (Daddy), Kelly (Mommy), Chayse, Connor & Colton....
(I'm the one taking the pictures...)











So what did my girly want... "breakfast for dinner" - her favorite! :)
We had quiche (egg pie w/ ham), banana bread, biscuits, fruit & OJ... she loved it! :)














But the BEST part of the evening... her birthday cake! :)

You can't tell in the picture too well, but I added blue food coloring to the sprinkle cake mix (which made a funky blue colored cake - being that blue is her new favorite color) with pink frosting, candy letters (ooohhh, what a treat), candles & LOTS of sprinkles on top!
She loved it and I'm happy to make my daughter's day! :)